"We have a really wide range of users, so making it highly customisable is important." "But we go right up to people in their 90s using the apps after having some kind of surgery, or if they have some kind of condition," he says. Around 20% of AssistiveWare's users are aged five and under, then 40% are aged 6-12 and 20% aged 12-18 according to Niemeijer. It's a user interface that's much more fluid for them."Īpps like Proloquo2Go and its sister product Pictello aren't just for children, even if they form the bulk of their users. With an iPad, it's direct: you move your finger on the screen and the thing slides with you. "They don't have an eye/hand coordination problem like with a mouse. "Especially kids with autism have this instant attraction to the iPad," says Niemeijer. Children with ASD are no different, and in fact, may derive even more benefits. It's become increasingly clear over the last five years that many children have an instinctive feel for touchscreen technology and the apps that come with it. "And in fact, traditional devices would often stay in the classroom, so the child going out to the playground or canteen would not have access to communication." "For someone like Ruby, having an iPod touch in her hand while in gym class works a lot better than taking an expensive computer in," he says. Niemeijer is keen to stress that the video of Ruby shows the impact the app has had for one specific child – "we don't claim that our app is the only option: there are cases when one of our competitors might be a better choice" – but he says it reflects the impact of putting AAC technology on consumer devices rather than more expensive, specialised hardware. It can be customised by parents to suit their child's age, abilities and interests. The app shows on-screen buttons for words and phrases, which are tapped by its users to form sentences that are spoken by the app. Proloquo2Go launched for iPhone and iPod touch in April 2009 – the latter device is possibly more important than the former for children with ASD – before extending onto iPad in 2010 when that device went on sale. "In 2009, only a thousand of those devices sold in England, but there have been estimates that there are around 300,000 people in England that could actually benefit from having this technology." "In the past, there were very expensive devices that might cost £3k or £5k," he says. The company has been making desktop AAC software since 2000, but spotted an opportunity in Apple's App Store when it launched in 2008. It's a striking video, so I talked to chief executive David Niemeijer to find out more. One of the developers making these apps is AssistiveWare, which came to my notice with this YouTube video about a six year-old girl called Ruby, and her use of its Proloquo2Go augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app on an iPad. It's also a day to consider the way smartphone and tablet apps are being used by people with ASD and other complex communication needs, including cerebral palsy, down syndrome and developmental disabilities.
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